OH! DO PRAY MY CHILDREN GOD WILL ANSWER YOU VERY SOON

January 17, 2021 marked the 150th anniversary of a Marian apparition in the small French village of Pontmain. For over 30 years the pastor of this village of 500 inhabitants taught his parishioners to pray to Mary with confidence and perseverance under the title of Our Lady of Hope, for all their needs.

In January 1871 France was losing miserably in a war they had started against the German states. With the Prussian army within 50 miles of Pontmain, the villagers feared annihilation. As they gathered with their pastor for Sunday afternoon devotions on January 15th, they voiced their desperation: “What is the use of praying? God no longer hears our prayers!”

Yet just two days later Our Lady appeared above a barn in Pontmain, writing a message in capital letters across a starry night sky: OH! DO PRAY MY CHILDREN GOD WILL ANSWER YOU VERY SOON.

That same night the Prussian forces turned back, reporting a strange vision of a Madonna in the sky barring their advance. All of Brittany was spared; an armistice was signed just 11 days later and all 38 of the young men from Pontmain who had been conscripted into the army returned safely home.

The apparition of Pontmain, though little known in America, teaches us to pray with confidence and perseverance because Jesus and His mother really do hear our prayers, even when we feel they are not listening.

Throughout the jubilee year, the Shrine of Pontmain will stage events to allow everyone to experience "a unique pilgrimage," while respecting all the sanitary restrictions imposed by the pandemic. "Pilgrims will be invited to reflect on their baptism; thank God for all the gifts they have received, and enter into a process of conversion to better live as disciples-missionaries of Christ. They will be able to receive the plenary indulgence granted by Pope Francis. The goal is to be fully renewed by the Mercy of God, including in the consequences of sins we have committed," say the organizers.

Adapted from Sister Constance Veit, LSP, for the CatholicPhilly.com, January 6, 2021

See: Pontmain